By Blake Dowson | [email protected]
Ally Disterhoft was no stranger to the spotlight before her junior season started.
In 2014-15, as a sophomore, Disterhoft led a Hawkeye team in scoring that ended its season with a loss to No. 5 Baylor in the Sweet 16.
In the team’s victories in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament against American and Miami, the Iowa City native led her team in scoring with 16.5 points per contest.
Even while leading her team in scoring during the season at 14.8 points per game, she knew her role would expand for the 2015-16 Iowa women’s basketball team, with program cornerstones Sam Logic, Melissa Dixon, and Bethany Doolittle — and their combined 4,364 points — having played their final games in the loss to Baylor.
After playing on a senior-led team a year ago, Disterhoft took on the challenge of leading this year’s Hawkeyes, who featured two freshmen and two sophomores in the starting lineup.
As a junior captain, Disterhoft raised her play in almost every aspect of the game. As the go-to option in head coach Lisa Bluder’s offense, her scoring was up from 14.8 to 17.1 per game, while seeing a lot more double teams and denying than she did as a sophomore. Disterhoft was also the model of consistency for Iowa, scoring in double figures in every game.
Disterhoft raised her overall field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage to 53 percent and 41 percent.
She increased in the number of blocks (28), assists (92), and steals (30).
Disterhoft did some of her most impressive work with the spotlight again on her at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. She carried the Hawkeyes to a first-round upset over No. 8-seed Michigan, scoring 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and registered 40 minutes of playing time.
In the Hawkeye’s second-round matchup against top-seed Maryland, Disterhoft led the team with 16 points, including 10 in the first quarter, to give Iowa a 28-18 lead going into the second quarter.
She ended the year 14th in the Big Ten in scoring, eighth in field-goal percentage, fourth in 3-point percentage, and fifth in minutes played to earn second-team All-Big Ten honors.
Disterhoft entered her junior season 34th on Iowa’s all-time scoring list with 977 points in her first two seasons, and she will enter her last year as a Hawkeye 11th on the all-time list after pouring in 565 points last year to move her total to 1,542.
Her 565 points last season were the most ever by a junior in program history and the fourth-highest total ever by a Hawkeye. She needs 517 points as a senior to become Iowa’s all-time leader in scoring.
Disterhoft’s 28 blocks were the sixth-most for a junior in program history, and her 116 career 3-point baskets rank her 12th.
If she repeats her production as a senior, she has a chance to leave Iowa as one of the best to ever put on a Hawkeye uniform.
